How Much Does A Recording Studio Cost?

This is a popular question. I've been in some preliminary talks with a potential new client for a design and supervisory role on a new home studio build in my area.

The obvious question is how much, the reply, well..... It depends. So many variables exist in studio construction it's very different than any other type of construction in a home.

So as a preliminary starting talking point I have him a basic structural materials cost estimate. This was based on the alloted area 22'x24' with two rectanglular rooms, divided by a double wall assembly. Very crude, but a starting point, and a weigh to address some basic cost vs benefit stuff. Since rooms of these sizes are so common in the home studio boom I thought it might be useful.

It also be great to hear from the others who have built, or had studios built for them, to get a scope of studio costs in general. I'll attach the cover sheet full size and the breakdown in the attachments. I'll also include one preliminary layout, which is non rectangular, and based closely of the picture on the cover of Build It Like The Pros.

We are talking Home studio here, right ?
My first question would be, what do you want to record and what level of quality do you want?

You can do some effective podcast for arounds 500$.
In my situation, I was aiming high quality and I wanted to be able to produce a full band, so I'm in for about 25k of investment so far.

Click to expand...

Yeah Marco we discussed about 20k being the number right now. I think that's about what it takes 20-30k. Your right in there. Something around the 900-1000 sqf seems to land around 35-50k

If you DIY everything you could probably pull off 10k which is where the materials will probably land on this one.

In fact lol the materials for the whole house structurally probably land about 10k lol.

From what I gather it's the cost of the basic room x3-5.

25k is a serious investment Marco. But I think considering a lot of rigs fall in that range between the computers recording gear and instruments, that you truly need 'good rooms' to get the most out of it.

It's funny how easy it is to make a podcast type thing sound good as you mentioned, but remarkable how many audio how to vids, and vlogs have terrible acoustics. Particularly the audio how to's should know better.

pcrecordDon't you want the best recording like I do ?Well-Known Member

Yes, I did it all by myself (and some help from my girlfriend).
I know very well that my settup is not ideal but it's the best I could do with the space that was given to me.
I built a room in a room 11x10' with an air space double wall and the rest of the place is 17 x 14'.
I have a small tool space where I can put guitar amps too.. (10x7)

i don't think that space is suitable to invest that much into. i wouldn't put more than $200 or $300 for treatments into it but i certainly wouldn't do any construction. not if you're really serious about recording and mixing real instruments live. if all you do is vst's you could record but i would still worry about mixing. the C/R as presented has issues too, mainly the fact you have it firing into compression. mix rooms should open up (like a horn) not close down. treatments cannot compensate for that.

by the time you divide it in to a C/R and live room, along with how low the ceiling is, you just don't have a suitable space. even if you do a one room thing, you still have the ceiling that is way too low. if you could raise the ceiling to 14 feet, you could do a mix room there.

i don't think that space is suitable to invest that much into. i wouldn't put more than $200 or $300 for treatments into it but i certainly wouldn't do any construction. not if you're really serious about recording and mixing real instruments live. if all you do is vst's you could record but i would still worry about mixing. the C/R as presented has issues too, mainly the fact you have it firing into compression. mix rooms should open up (like a horn) not close down. treatments cannot compensate for that.

by the time you divide it in to a C/R and live room, along with how low the ceiling is, you just don't have a suitable space. even if you do a one room thing, you still have the ceiling that is way too low. if you could raise the ceiling to 14 feet, you could do a mix room there.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't say it's impossible to get a decent mix in a room with a ceiling lower than 14' - much of mixing is being familiar with the inadequacies or issues of a particular environment, too. That's not to say that it isn't preferred - to have a good sounding space - but it's not impossible to get a good mix in a room that is less than perfect - if you are familiar with your room and your monitors.

a lot of things can be done in less than perfect circumstances. we're talking about putting thousands of dollars into a room for what? less than desirable results? to have to be "familer" with the room to use it? a few hundred in removable treatments (fiberglass panels and fluffy pink for absorption) will get you there without destroying the value of your house.

Yeah - investing $25K in 8 foot ceilings doesn't seem like a good ROI. If I'm spending anything over $10k I would demand 14 ft ceilings or higher. Actually, I wouldn't invest any money at all in something that has 8 foot ceilings...removable treatments at best.

However, it is a good point being made that you can "learn the room", as I have had to learn my home studio's control room with a 12 foot ceiling. But 8 foot ceilings would really make that exponentially tough.

it all depends on what the intended use of the room is. a 50 hZ wave is 22 feet plus long. 140 Hz wave is 8 feet plus. these are simple criterion we can apply to discern the suitability of a space for the intended purpose.

Allen Sides insists he needs to hear a 33Hz wave to correctly mix a kick drum. he builds custom monitor systems that deliver that low, however they are quite large and require huge rooms to operate in. this is why all the mix rooms he owns are very large. a simple solution is to limit the bandwith of the monitor system you use but these days everyone is obsessed with very deep bass. it's a recipe for disaster i tell 'ya! to spend an inordinate amount on a room that small would be imo, a disservice to the client. we can install a jet engine in a lawn mower but just because it's possible, doesn't mean it's a great idea. lol.